I'll look for you if I make the trip. I'll probably be testing for Yellow within the next 2 weeks. I've got all 10 Short Katas, all 10 Sparring Techniques, and the required Self Defense techniques down. Now it's just a matter of getting them to instinct-like speed. I know all of their applications (well, at least 3 per kata) so I'm pretty confident in my abilities at the moment. I sparred (no contact) for the first time against a 1st degree black. If it were contact he would've killed me, but I got in around 4 or 5 moves he thought were nice and commented on. I then sparred against a 2nd Brown and I felt more confident with this sparring match. I got several good moves in, which as did he since he's got more experience, but I was overall pleased with how I did. I figured I would be embarrassed by them both (which I kind of was by the black).

I've been taking Shaolin Do for a little over a year. I've also studied TKD. I got into because I wanted to get back into a martial art. I moved from Ireland a few years ago and had studied TKD there and really enjoyed it. I searched for a style for about 2 months before settling on this one. I'd looked at other TKd schools in my area and a lot of them were basically day care centers for kids and that wasn't something I wanted. I wanted something with plenty of material to keep me interested and damn does it have that.

To answer an earlier post about no one understanding anything but the surface effects of a form, I think thats purely a teacher thing. We'll spend classes going over one miniscule technique and break it down until we figure out how many different ways it can be applied. Sometimes it's not obvious stuff but when you unlock the techniques they're pretty devastating. There's multiple techniques that focus on shattering joints, hitting nerve areas, splitting muscles and to be honest I'm still a ways from black belt which to be honest is still considered beginner (in the temple there were really only 4 levels: novice, apprentice, master grandmaster (or something like that) The belt rankings are a relatively new creation and really more designed as an indication of where you are. I'd love to know the history of belt rankings in any style, my feeling is that back in the origins of any ancient style such as kung fu, karate etc etc belt rankings didn't exist.

Lets be honest about this regardless of what style, where it is, what it's history is it will only ever as good as the martial artist learning it and the teacher teaching it. There are any number of "reputable" schools or styles that will take your money and happily give you a black belt. The higher level It's up to the individual to take the time to properly learn a style. Dont take shortcuts, so many people go through the process of getting to black belt then give up because they figure they know it all. From what I've seen when you get to black belt thats when it starts getting really good so pick a style for life not just for the few years to black belt.

Anyway to wrap up this long rambling post, whether you believe it or not is up to you but this is actually a pretty nice style. It's not bullshido. As with anything find a good school and a solid teacher and you should be fine.

Hey, i live in Harlan, Ky :P were pretty close...i practice Kempo...:Pabout a year ago i spared about light/medium contact with a much higher ranking student from sholin-do he was a 2nd kyu and i was like 6th or 7th kyu and i beat the guy pretty bad...afterwords his "Sensi" Insulted my Shihan to my face,and my shihan wasn't even there... so, i guess sholin-do doesn't teach honor and respect? or maybe it was just this guy... but as the martial artist i try to be ,i respected him even tho he made me furious.....

Anyway....getting on subject...........

from what i have seen,..Not only are sho-lin-do's katas Stupid...they aren't practical...and they are very sloppy....4 guards at the gate? the Monkey Kata? haha ,come on...Grab 2 guys by the head and smack their faces together, then do a flying side kick to one, then Chop the other guy's his neck and stomach ?And Wtf is a Hit Kick ? that is the most stupid move i have ever seen... lol thats funny...Okay, okay..., show me someone that can do those applications in a fight...and i'll "bow to your sensi"...LOL "napoleon dynamite...i love that movie..LOL"

the only reason im insulting it , is because #1 from what i have seen, its true , and #2 i have been insulted by Sholin-do in the past , so i think we're even now....lol

and yes... know im being Harsh, and making it out to sound like Rex-Kwon-DO....butfrom what i have seen....it is....

But hey, im not insulting you , im insulting what i have seen of the art...and what i have seen is a joke....maybe the schools in my area have put a bad name on Sholin-do ,....maybe its just my area....i will believe its a joke untill someone proves me wrong...but it would be great for you to drive down to harlan and visit my school , and meet my shihan , he is realy experienced and knows about everything you would wanna know about anything ..."he is a 3 time world champ " lol, and you could see what our style is like , and maybe see why i think the way i do about sholin-do...

Yeah, I mean that's what you've seen of it. It's kind of sad that someone would represent the art in such a rude and bad (meaning sucky lol) kind of way. My teacher is a 3rd Black and we have class on Tuesdays at 7:00 on the top floor of the YMCA complex in front of Pikeville High School if you ever want to come by and check it out. I would be about as talented as the guy you sparred though, I'm only a Yellow Belt and I've only been training for like a month now. You're welcome to come by and check it out if you're ever in Pikeville on Tuesdays at 7:00.

You can find someone in any martial art that will represent it badly. From what I have seen (having taken several different kinds of martial arts) the way we train is the most comprehensive. We cover so much, and the level of your own involvement is up to you. If you merely want to learn katas fine. Myself and a few others train in katas, weapons, sparring, grappling, wrestling, boxing, self defense, anything that you can imagine. Some of the moves may seem kind of strange but overall, I would be confident in the training that we recieve compared to any other. This is not to say that I or even my teacher could beat anyone in the world, there is always someone better, all I'm saying is that as far as the training that we do, I have yet to see anything more complete and comprehensive. We welcome people from other areas to come train with us to see what we do. I think you'll be impressed.

Im curoius what does sholindo mean? The way of shaolin? cuz it lookes nothing like the Shaolin Kungfu i know of...im confused....a chinese system that uses japanese terms and uniforms?i have heard the story about why...but it doesnt fit the dates and stuff....can someone offer me a better explanation , or give some further detail on the one most ppl seem to believe?

Shaolin-do is apparently a recently devised system of various arts that have been labeled as stated. Any training is better then no training I just hope its well thought out some new systems have no stable grounds and take you in so many directions that you are not grounded in any.

Train hard and study wisely, only time can prove a system. I hope your journey is not a test of futility.